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Wednesday, 27 June 2012

Manga Kaalan

Nostalgic memories .. that’s what is associated with Manga kalan(mango kalan)..first I will give a small lecture about the dish and then go to my nostalgia part .
Manga kaalan is a very traditional recipe from my home state Kerala.Ripe mangoes are cooked in a yoghurt and coconut gravy.It has the sweetness from the ripe mangoes and a litte sour taste from the yoghurt..A sweet and sour curry.
A very special kind of small mangoes called the chandrakkaran /nattumanaga are used for making this kaalan but I used the normal mangoes which are flooding the markets here.It is called the badami variety here in Dubai.I was trying to find out the English or Malayalam word for that but ended up getting some other interesting info.. will be posted towards the end. ;)
The first reason I wanted to make manga kaalan was of course the availability of yummy ripe mangoes.Moreover ,my clooooossseeee friend Haritha had made manga kaalan for me with the normal ripe mangoes when I had visited her in Singapore and i had loved it.So wanted to make it cos I miss her a lot here!!
Yesterday I met my other friend Jabeen and we both were wishing that Hari(yes we call her that ,despite that being her hubby’s name now) was also here in Dubai.Anyways…
Now I made this Kaalan and the first taste in my taste buds and I was taken back to my dad’s native place.Suddenly all the memories of holidays spent there came to me. It was a village in Palakkad district called kuruvattoor,near Sreekrishnapuram .We used to have lots and lots of mangoes over there ,all grown in our own land.I still remember at 3:30 in the evening we would all sit at the dining table and my 2 elder cousin brothers would cut ripe mangoes for us.We would eat a lot… a lot .. really..Now we don’t go to that place as our house there is sold and they have shifted to urban areas.I miss that village, the huge houses with no proper compound walls, lots and lots of tress…the hay stacks, cows, chickens everything.. the only thing I really don’t miss are the snakes we used to spot once in a while!!!Village life.. that’s just a distant memory now.But I feel lucky we could at least experience a little of it .The present generation will not know what it is.. too see a cow they have to go to a dairy farm!!!
All this is making emotional.. so before I go endlessly about the village and memories I am going in to the recipe…

Boil the mango pices in 1 cup water along with chilli powder and turmeric powder.
When the mango pices are well boiled and the water has reducedalmost completly ,add in the ground coconut paste and mix well.
Now add in the beaten curd slowly ,stirring continously.
Let it simmer for 7-8 minutes.
Heat a pan , add in the coconut oil.Whne the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter.Then add the methi seeds,red chillies and the curry leaves and temper the mango curry with this and take off the stove.
If you feel the cuury is too thick add some more beaten curd and mix well.

Serve the curry with hot steamed rice.

Notes:I like a thick gravy so I let the wtaer dry up compltely .Sio initially I add only so much water just enough to immerse the mango pices.
Always add the curd after adding cocnout otherwise the cur will curdle.You may increase decrease the quanity of coconut ,as I said I don’t like it very watery so I add a litte extra coconut.

Some info on Mango:

Mango is the national fruit of India ,Pakistan and Phillipines.It is also the national tree of Bangladesh
The English word "mango" (plural "mangoes" or "mangos")originated from the Tamil word māṅgai or mankay (Tamil: மாங்காய்) or Malayalam māṅṅa(Malayalam: മാങ്ങ; from the Dravidian root word for the same), via Portuguese (also manga).

10 comments
:

Beautiful pics... the serving bowl looks really attractive... I learnt about Kaalan soon after I got married since it's my husbands favourite. He likes his Kaalan with plantain. I have this ripe mango Kaalan but never knew it's name then and I totally love it. I wonder if I'll be able to recreate it with vegan yoghurt, you have tempted me enough to experiment :)

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